


Research Material

by NanakiBH



Category: JoJo no Kimyouna Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Community: springkink, Love/Hate, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-27
Updated: 2012-11-27
Packaged: 2017-11-19 17:19:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/575709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanakiBH/pseuds/NanakiBH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There had to be a reason Rohan was willing to suffer this many times just to get near him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Research Material

**Author's Note:**

> _Oct 6, 2007 - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Rohan/Josuke - attraction despite mutual dislike - "Hate can be just as potent as love, didn't you know?"_
> 
>  
> 
> I reached all the way into the past to pull this prompt out from springkink. The original prompt was from 2007 and from what I can tell, there may only be one or two JoJo fics in total that have been written for the community. I'm sorry I wasn't a JoJo fan back in 2007, whoever asked for this. But hopefully someone out there will appreciate it in 2012.

Hospital stay number six.

That was when Rohan finally admitted to himself that there was something wrong.

With his fists clenched in the thin, sterile, white sheets, he stared up at the hospital room ceiling and considered the path his life had headed down. Moving to the town of Morioh had decidedly been the best decision of his career, but there was someone there who was simultaneously providing him with infinite material and stopping his productivity altogether.

It was... infuriating.

And between letting it go by maintaining status quo and provoking said someone further, he chose the decision that would keep sending him to the hospital. It was beyond reason, especially when he had his own means of defending himself. If he wanted to, he could have made Josuke bend to his demands a long time ago with one simple wave of his pen, but instead, here he was again.

That was a part of what the problem was. After hearing so many interesting details about him from Koichi, he wanted to know more, but he didn't want to simply reach for Josuke's pages like he would with anyone else. For some reason, he felt compelled to learn more about him from the boy himself.

On hospital stay number six, he admitted that he wanted Josuke to talk to him.

After he got out that time, he decided that he was going to try to act more civilly towards Josuke. For the express purpose of talking to him, Rohan kept trying to find out where he was going to be so he could just happen to be in the same place to start a casual conversation.

On a bright and sunny Friday afternoon, he waited three hours for him outside his school.

On stay number seven, he admitted that he shouldn't have blamed Josuke for making him wait. Apparently that wasn't acceptable behavior to people in Morioh.

His nose had been broken three times already by Crazy Diamond's fists because of Josuke's tendency to shoot for the face. First time broken, second time fixed by it, third time twisted into a terrible direction that he had to hide behind a bandage. He wasn't willing to undergo surgery for it yet because his track record told him that he would be receiving another corrective punch soon enough.

Unexpectedly, the bandage was the best move he had made yet.

He was sitting at the café on a Saturday afternoon, sipping some lightly sweetened pomegranate tea, struggling to breathe through his nose as he sketched some of the customers on the pad he held in his lap. His pencil traced back and forth along the line that formed the jaw on the young man he was sketching. His fingers were itching to strengthen the curve of his jaw, to thicken his eyebrows, to give him a dumb, old-fashioned hairstyle...

His hand adopted a mind of its own and by the time he looked back up, he nearly snapped the pencil in half when he realized who was standing in front of him.

“That looks bad.”

Rohan looked down at the drawing in his lap, which had evolved into a firm-gazed, strong-jawed young man with a pompadour and he promptly flipped it closed as quickly as he could without spilling the contents of the cup he held in his other hand.

Josuke held out his hands like a sign of surrender and Rohan attempted to still his nerves.

Where had he gone wrong in the past? With Josuke standing in front of him, nothing but white noise filled his ears and all of his thoughts felt confused. His blood rose a hundred degrees in his veins. His heart pounded dangerously loud. His mouth suddenly felt dry.

He didn't want to talk to him anymore. But why?

“W-well fuck you too,” he managed to spit out, rising up in his chair. It felt counter-productive immediately. Way to backpedal, he told himself. Ten points.

Josuke growled. “Hey, I was trying to be nice this time! I wasn't talking about your stupid drawing.”

Rohan froze and slowly sunk back into his chair.

Josuke looked at the ground and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I meant your nose. M-my mom told me to apologize, alright?” He glanced up quickly and then looked back down at the same fascinating point on the ground his eyes had previously been fixed on. “I gotta learn how to control myself a little better. So... Sorry. Just – Why do you keep following me around if you're just gonna talk shit?”

This was probably the most they had spoken to each other so far without trying to claw off each other's faces first and it gave Rohan a moment of clarity. He was finally able to take a slow breath to calm himself down. He also took that moment to place his things down on the small, round table so he could put his hands in his lap. His pencil was on top of his sketch pad. No Heaven's Door. He was completely disarmed.

This was his chance.

To... Say something. Anything.

The white noise was returning in full force and Josuke was looking more nervous the longer he stood there without him saying anything. Hard pressed to do anything, he stretched out a leg to push out the chair across from him on the other side of the table.

“Take a seat,” he said, humiliating himself with how nasal his voice sounded.

Josuke laughed softly, but it wasn't mocking. If anything, it sounded nervous and a little relieved. He took his hands out of his pockets and sat down, immediately leaning across the table to ignore personal space.

“What are you-”

“Shut up,” he said, pinching the bridge of Rohan's nose between his fingers. Intense pain shot through his face when he pressed his fingers together and Rohan could hear the sound of his bones rearranging themselves.

“F- _fuck_ ,” he bit out through clenched teeth. “I don't want your help, you know.”

“What, you wanted to live with a fucked up face? I know you do modeling.” He glanced away again. It was getting suspicious. “My mom would be really mad, I mean. If you couldn't model anymore because I messed you up. She likes seein' you in those magazines.”

No way. No fucking way. He couldn't even stand to be dense about this anymore, not when Josuke's face was turning red like that. That wasn't simple embarrassment.

“Do you have a crush on me or something?”

“Y-you sayin' I like dudes?” Josuke asked, panic evident in his voice as he spun around to stare at him with wide, horrified eyes. The other patrons all turned around to stare at them, including that cute boy he had been drawing earlier.

“Hey, calm down. I, uh.”

Officially, this was the most awkward conversation Rohan had ever held in his life, bar the time he almost came out to his grandmother. Bless her soul.

He decided that it would be wise to change the subject. “I've actually been meaning to talk to you. There's a lot I've learned from the people in town and I like to use some of that knowledge in my manga. I know you aren't exactly a fan of my work, but would you be willing to help? I hate to admit it, but you're actually the most interesting person around here.”

_Maybe the most interesting person I've ever met,_ he wanted to add, thankfully able to keep his mouth closed so he couldn't.

That seemed to grab Josuke's interest. He leaned an elbow on top of the table and placed his chin in his palm. “Oh yeah? Don't you have Koichi? I thought he was your gopher.”

Rohan couldn't help a little laugh of his own, an amused little sound that slipped passed his lips. “Koichi's useful for some things and I admit that I appreciate having him around-”

“Because you force him.”

“-but there are certain, specific other things I believe only you are capable of showing me.”

He lifted his cup to his lips and paused, his words returning to his own ears as if on a delay. What was it he was trying to say, exactly? He knew he couldn't be blushing like that idiot, but the way he said that sure sounded suspicious – provocative, even.

He took a long sip of his tea and then idly chewed on the lip of the cup, waiting for Josuke to respond. Rohan wasn't sure where he was going with this anymore, but he was bound to finally find out if he were able to stay in Josuke's presence for a little bit longer. The more he calmed down, the more his thoughts seemed to clear, and now it looked as though the best path to travel was straight ahead.

Meanwhile, Josuke seemed to be involved in some sort of inner teenage turmoil; a side effect of talking to his assumed 'arch nemesis' on friendly terms, most likely. He had taken his chin out of his palm so he could wring his hands together and Rohan watched him with keen, mounting interest. His reactions to most things were so perfect. That was definitely a part of why he found him infuriating, but it was also what must have kept him fascinated enough to be willing to suffer through multiple emergency room visits.

“I guess what I'm saying is-”

“You want to be friends?”

He was glad he hadn't been drinking, otherwise he would have spat his tea in Josuke's face.

“ _What?_ No. That's not what I'm saying.”

Ruffling his feathers must have been what snapped him out of his prior turmoil, as he had a wide smile on him when Rohan next looked up. It was too weird, trying to talk to him like anyone else. Things only felt normal when Josuke responded by making fun of him or, well, _punching him in the face._ It was a little sad, but that was what 'normal' was between them. Anything else, like those nervous glances from before, made Rohan feel profoundly uncomfortable.

“I was hoping you could tell me more about yourself,” he said.

“Huh?” Josuke grinned, eyes glinting mischievously as he glanced up at him through lowered lashes. “Do you have a crush on me or something?”

Rohan's hand shot straight forward for his cup and his fingers curled so hard around it that they dented the sides in, but he willed himself not to throw it at him. Who did he think he was, turning his own words back around on him like that? It wasn't like he even – It wasn't like he – He didn't...

“Look,” he said firmly. “I just want to research you. That's all.”

“ _Research me?_ ” Josuke asked, adding a playful coyness to his voice. “Don't you think you're moving a little too fast? I thought we were enemies.”

“Goddammit, stop interpreting everything I say that way. It's not like I like you or anything, you idiot.”

Wait. Wait a minute there.

“Wow, man,” Josuke said, giving a low whistle. “Are you _sure_ you don't have a-”

“ _Stop._ ” He stood up and started to collect his things, putting his sketch pad back into his portfolio so he could hoist it over his shoulder. He scooped up his dented cup and drained its contents before crushing it the rest of the way in his fist. With a searing glare, he turned back to Josuke who was still looking at him with a confused expression. “I'd like to talk with you again and you already apologized, so don't fuck it up now. I'll see you again some other time.”

Somehow, he had enough self-control not to turn around as he walked away, burning with the desire to see how he was reacting. It was best that he walk away with his dignity intact, he decided, even if he had embarrassed himself enough already to leave a few scratches on it.

It wasn't until he was back at home, struggling to continue his work that he let himself think about what happened.

He was afraid that it would take hospital stay number eight for him to admit what he really meant back there.


End file.
